Archive for February, 2016

Vinyl

Speed the Plough – Now (2015)

Juggling pop rocking finesse with experimental episodes, Speed the Plough is still mixing and mashing genres. Democracy remains the key word on ‘Now.’

Vinyl

Matthew Hartnett – Southern Comfort (2016)

Talented trombonist/composer Matthew Hartnett has identified something culturally valuable in every environment he’s found himself in to make a remarkable introduction.

Vinyl

Essentials by the Eagles’ Glenn Frey: Gimme Five

Most people associate Glenn Frey with the peaceful, easy country-rock songs with the Eagles. But he also had a gift for R&B and vocal arranging.

Fortunato Isgro, "Good Times Bad Times" from Journey (2016): One Track Mind

Fortunato Isgro, “Good Times Bad Times” from Journey (2016): One Track Mind

Fortunato Isgro’s “Good Times Bad Times” borrows the best elements of the past, then tops them off with a contemporary delivery.

Vinyl

Daevid Allen Weird Quartet – Elevenses (2016)

Daevid Allen’s final recording is as he’s always sounded: like he’s still frolicking in 1970 trying to imagine what music might be like in 2020 if we had lost our minds along the way,

The Doors - Morrison Hotel (1970): On Second Thought

The Doors – Morrison Hotel (1970): On Second Thought

There’s nothing forced about 1970’s back-to-basics ‘Morrison Hotel,’ which found the Doors offering blues-battered hard rock with renewed vim and vigor.

Vinyl

The Westies – Six on the Out (2016)

The Westies’ terrific sophomore effort revisits many of the elements that made 2015’s ‘West Side Stories’ shine, even while hitting a few new heights.

ZZ Top – Tejas (1976): Shadows in Stereo

ZZ Top – Tejas (1976): Shadows in Stereo

ZZ Top’s underrated ‘Tejas’ is like a forgotten middle child, having had the back luck to follow not just one, but two classic albums.

Joe Mandica, "My Heart Belongs" from A Thousand Miles (2016): One Track Mind

Joe Mandica, “My Heart Belongs” from A Thousand Miles (2016): One Track Mind

With a touch of Southern-fried soul, Joe Mandica’s “My Heart Belongs” is like a marvelous mating of Bill Lloyd with Bill Deal and the Rhondels.

Vinyl

Christine Jensen + Maggi Olin – Transatlantic Conversations: 11 Piece Band (2016)

Jensen and Olin draw from a deep well of experience and the broad diversity of music styles to make a little magic with a big band.